Murphy & Dittenhafer Coordinating Plans for Former Griffith-Smith Building

Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects has been commissioned for design/planning work for the property at 45 West Market Street, the former Griffith-Smith menswear store.

Mashugana, LLC, who has executed an option to purchase the vacant and condemned building from the York City Redevelopment Authority, brought Murphy & Dittenhafer on board for architectural/engineering/site planning services to tear down the two-story rear portion, extend the existing parking capacity, and renovate the three-story, 6,914-square foot main section of the property.

Mashugana is in the process of securing a tenant for the building, but the entity envisions a street level restaurant that would add to the growing list of dining and retail amenities in downtown York.

Planning is underway for this West Market Street redevelopment project. Construction bids are being reviewed and a contractor will be selected in the near future, with an anticipated construction start in August or September.

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Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects is an award-winning architectural firm that focuses on planning, interior, and architectural design projects involving new construction, renovation, restoration, and adaptive reuse for historic properties, churches, urban housing, nonprofit organizations, higher education, and libraries. The firm’s offices are located in York, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland. Visit their website at murphdittarch.com.

Murphy & Dittenhafer Conducting Feasibility Study for Shippensburg University's Stewart Hall

Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects has been commissioned to design renovations and additions to adaptively reuse Stewart Hall, the original 1894 gymnasium structure on the campus of Shippensburg University.

The existing Stewart Hall historic gymnasium space with suspended “banked” running track will be converted to an event space and possibly the new home of the Department of Alumni Affairs.

The project budget is $3.9 million and the finished building will be 15,146 total square feet (original footage of 13,284, plus a proposed three-story addition of 1,862 square feet). Murphy & Dittenhafer is currently completing a preliminary concept design/feasibility study, and will begin to move forward with developing construction documents sometime in 2015.

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Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects is an award-winning architectural firm that focuses on planning, interior, and architectural design projects involving new construction, renovation, restoration, and adaptive reuse for historic properties, churches, urban housing, nonprofit organizations, higher education, and libraries. The firm’s offices are located in York, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland. Visit their website at murphdittarch.com.

Aesthetically Elegant and Environmentally Responsible: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts

The historic buildings of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts sit on the edge of town in Hagerstown, Maryland, in an idyllic, park-like setting. The facility boasts a new 3,200 square-foot atrium that allows for year-round use of a previously underutilized space and complements the original building by gracefully marrying the old and the new.

The former exterior courtyard was located between gallery wings and was unusable in colder months and bad weather. The museum’s trustees set out to repurpose the space so that it could be utilized year-round for special events and programming.

Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects was selected to design the new space, and the result is an elegant $1.3 million addition to the museum campus: a skylit courtyard enclosure that filters in natural daylight.

The structure is independent of the original historic gallery museum building, which incorporated an easement through the Maryland Historic Trust. In response, Murphy & Dittenhafer designed thoughtfully-located structural supports and a pyramidal skylight system over the entire courtyard. The brick walls of the original 1930s gallery wings serve as the perimeter walls for the interior courtyard space.

Murphy & Dittenhafer incorporated numerous high-performance and energy efficiency features into the contemporary design of the new courtyard enclosure, including LED lighting, sustainable mechanical systems, and a brick floor radiant heating system. The space is not only aesthetically elegant, but also environmentally responsible, and equipped to be responsive to ensure patron comfort and usage throughout changing times of day and season.

“The architectural design has provided the museum with a larger-than-life ‘good business’ investment on which they continue to capitalize” says Frank Dittenhafer. “The design has contributed directly to the successful rebranding of the entire museum from a respected but low-profile institution to that of a progressive regional venue that is on the move.”

The project is directly responsible for increased, consistent year-round attendance at the museum and expanded programming, including music, lectures, and dance, in addition to the visual arts. The prismatic forms of the glass skylight system and photos of the new courtyard enclosure are featured prominently in the museum’s communications and publications. The museum has seen marked growth in new membership and the courtyard space is regularly rented for public and private functions.